Well Shod, Well Imformed

THE SLOW BURNING SUPERNOVA

A homage to French born Cubist Francis Picabia is the core reference of London based footwear designer Behnaz Kanani’s A/W 09/10 collection.

“Hold up meth lips”, Imelda hears you scream “why A/W 09/10 and not S/S 10?”

As the pendulum swings towards the independent footwear designer (a response to the S/S 10 catwalk affront) the Persian born Behnaz Kanani is set to become a playa-playa next season and the Despotic Queen feels since I’ve overlooked (read forgotten) to blog her A/W 09/10 collection that before we shift into drive I want to reverse (a season).

And to paraphrase an out of control teen slut Carmen, “It’s my haute blog and I’ll do what I want”

If you need a quick refresher then Imelda suggests you click HERE otherwise let’s shut up and drive!

Despite her impressive pedigree and high profile stockists, including Harvey Nicholas and Dover Street Market, the Cordwainers trained Kanani is still a relative unknown designer.

 

Kanani straddles a curious divide.  Her hand-made footwear is only available in limited numbers, yet unlike say, Spanish born, French based cobbler Vicente Rey her footwear is purpose built for world domination.

While her fellow Brit cobblers Kirkwood and Skovgaard are drilling the US market, Kanani is on the slow burn - which the Despotic Queen imagines is precisely how this conundrum likes to keep her ascension.

It’s not that commercial success eludes Kanani, rather she has (like her design process) a timeless approach to building her eponymously named brand, which Imelda speculates was inherited from her time working for venerable houses like Bruno Magli and Jimmy Choo, where the ‘art’ of shoe making is, at times, overshadowed by the bottom line.

That said, Kanani is no slouch when it comes to marketing and brand identity. This season she debuts her logo (seen below) that the designer says is “like a discreet point of light, a hallmark for the brand”

 image credit / The Business of Fashion

Titled ‘A Scent of a Women’ Kanani says inspiration for her A/W 09/10 collection came from 'Evoked memories, the perception of expanding matter in constant movement and the rhythm of impulse'

 

Crafted from the finest crocodile, lizard, soft calf skins and nubuck, Kanani’s sculpted heel platforms are complimented by a palette of ‘black, unusual sangria and cool grey in nuances of arsenic, taupe and slate combined with burnt orange and hues of old lavender’

 

A focal point of the collection is Kanani’s sculpted heels which remind the Despotic Queen of a hybrid of Thea Cadabra’s ‘Maid Shoe’ and Stéphane Couvé Bonnaire’s witty giraffe heel pump from 1996. However, Kanani describes the heels as a design that ‘translates the essence of a woman into elegant curvaceous shapes’ and ‘silhouettes that echo and are in harmony with the feminine body’

 

DAS BOOTIES

When the Despotic Queen hooked up with the fräuleins fabulous from Les Mads, it was inevitable the conversation would turn to shoes. The impossibly cute Jessie revealed to Imelda that she couldn’t wear heels. Clutching for my pearls I bellowed “What? Frauline, does this look like Oktoberfest? There’s no such thing as can’t…just won’t” On the verge of causing an international incident I fumbled for my taser heels. “No, No” she implored “it’s not that I don’t won’t to it’s that I can’t, really”.

“Bitte erläutern Sie” I replied. Mein heart shattered into a million pieces as she explained the horror of ‘a life in flats’ (and no, she doesn’t have club foot). “Worry not fräulein. Imelda will find you the perfect shoe. Something that will support your arch but still gives the height”

In a folder marked ‘Achtung’, Behnaz Kanani’s A/W 09/10 preview has been safely buried under my petty pants and unmentionables since before RAFW. I’m slowly making my way through the mountain of previews and exclusives but because Kanani is such an exciting discovery, I can’t bring myself to do another hatchet job (the first can be seen HERE).

However, a blogger in flats is an international crisis, so Jessie for das consideration here is one of my favorite shoes from Kanani’s A/W 09/10 collection.

THE MORNING STAR

For four seasons Behnaz Kanani has managed to avoid the searing gaze of the Despotic Queen, until now! What’s even worse, the London based Corwainders graduate has been a freelance gun for hire for over 8 years and still I know nothing – and Imelda sees all.

A couple of weeks ago I had my blinkers lifted and discovered the heart stopping brilliance of Kanani’s footwear. Speaking to Vogue UK Kanani explained her shoes “transcend time, fashion and cultural boundaries using a design language that gives a unique, organic and sculptural quality". Given the pressure currently facing luxury footwear designers, a shoe that ‘transcends time’ is more a commercial necessity than ethereal brand statement. Of course none of that really matters because Kanani’s handmade shoes are so painfully beautiful that you’d sell a kidney for a pair.

Kanani’s journey to emancipation started in 1997 when she graduated Cordwainers (with Honors). She then went on to work with industry greats like Mrs Magli (Bruno Magli) and Sandra Choi (Jimmy Choo) before launching her eponymous label in 2006. I’ve skipped over a few deets but they’ll be covered off when the Despotic Queen previews Kanani’s A/W 09/10 collection. But for now I invite you to soak in the splendor of her SS09 collection.